One Day at HorrorLand is the sixteenth book in the original Goosebumps book series. It was first published in 1994. It received a sequel as the thirteenth Goosebumps Series 2000 book, Return to HorrorLand.
The book has received several adaptations, and has inspired many other pieces of Goosebumps media, such as three video games and a book series.
The cover illustration features a Horror that is attached to a billboard that reads: Welcome to Horrorland - where Nightmares Come to Life! An amusement park is visible in the background.
Blurb
THE NEXT RIDE MIGHT BE THEIR LAST...
The Morris family got lost trying to find Zoo Gardens Theme Park. But that's okay. They found another amusement park instead. It's called HorrorLand. In HorrorLand there are no crowds. No lines. And the admission is free. It seems like a pretty cool place. But that was before that heart-stopping ride on the deadly Doom Slide. And that terrifying experience in the House of Mirrors. Because there's something weird about the rides in HorrorLand. Something a little too creepy. A little too real...
Plot
The Morris family is driving through the desert, searching for the Zoo Gardens theme park. The family consists of Lizzy Morris, Luke Morris, Luke's friend Clay, and the parents. The father left the map at home, so they get lost.
Soon they come across a forest and they are sure that there is no hope, until a frightening billboard reveals the existence of a theme park called HorrorLand one mile away. They drive there, but as soon as they are parked, the car explodes, and the family narrowly escapes the blast.
The person in the toll booth is in a lifelike "costume" and he apologizes for the inconvenience, allowing them to enter the park for free. When they ask to use the telephone, they are informed that there are no telephones at HorrorLand at all.
They decide to go on some rides. The Deadly Doom Slide is their first choice, and it consists of ten slides, and you must not pick the one that does not have an end. After narrowly escaping certain death, they go into the hall of mirrors, where they get lost and almost not to come out.
They discover that the rides in HorrorLand are a little too scary, maybe even a little too dangerous. But the rides aren't real, are they? They soon decide to go find their parents, who have gone missing, only to be attacked by a vicious swarm of bats.
After escaping from this, they find their parents and decide to ride the safest ride in the park, the Coffin Cruise. It is a relaxing ride down a river in makeshift rafts made of coffin wood. Soon, they are locked into the coffins and are shocked to discover that there are spiders inside. After they are let out, they try to escape, only to find a sign that says: NO EXIT. NOBODY LEAVES HORRORLAND ALIVE.
They are soon captured by the workers, the "HorrorLand Horrors". These monsters put them on a monster game show, where they exhibit the humans being killed or tortured on national television. As they are about to be pushed into a pit of death, Lizzy remembers the no pinching signs around the park. She pinches at the Horror, causing it to deflate and die. The family begins to pinch several Horrors, and that allows them to escape through the front gate which was now open. But then, the Horrors give chase and run after them.
They steal a bus and drive home, where they discover a Horror had clung to the back of the bus. Once the monster gets off the back, he gives them free passes to the park for next year.
Reprints and rereleases
| Book | Release date | Type | Media |
|---|---|---|---|
2003 - 2007 reprint series  |
September 2003 | Standalone | Paperback |
 |
November 2008 | Standalone | Paperback |
 |
October 27, 2015 | Collection | Paperback |
Differences
- The Classic Goosebumps reprint was released as a tie-in to the fifth Goosebumps HorrorLand book, Dr. Maniac vs. Robby Schwartz.
International releases
| No. | Book | Country | Translated title | Release date | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 |
One Day at HorrorLand  |
United Kingdom
English |
One Day at HorrorLand | March 1995 | Scholastic |
| 16 |
Una giornata particolare  |
Italy
Italian |
A Particular Day | June 1995 | Mondadori |
| 1 |
Un día en Horrorlandia  |
Spain
Spanish |
A Day in HorrorLand | 1995 | Ediciones B |
| 16 |
Το λουνα παρκ του τρομου  |
Greek
Greece |
The Lunar Park of Terror | 1995 | ΚΕΔΡΟΣ |
| 25 |
Le Parc de l'horreur |
France
French |
The Horror Park | February 13, 1997 | Bayard Poche |
| 5 |
Um Dia no País dos Horrores  |
Portugal
Portuguese |
One Day in the Country of Horrors | 1997 | Abril |
| 16 |
En dag i Horrorland  |
Denmark
Danish |
One Day in Horrorland | 2000 | Borgen |
| N/A |
Horrorland  |
Nederlands
Dutch |
Horrorland | 2003 | Kluitman Alkmaar BV |
| 8 |
ملاهي المفاجآت  |
Egypt
Arabic |
The Amusement Park Surprises | N/A | Dar Nahdet Misr |
| 5 |
ברוכים הבאים לארץ הבלהות  |
Israel
Hebrew |
Welcome to the Land of Fright | N/A | Maariv Publishing |
| N/A |
Le Parc de l'horreur  |
Canada
French |
The Horror Park | September 2005 | Scholastic |
| 6 |
Um Dia no Parque do Terror  |
Brazil
Portuguese |
A Day in the Park of Terror | 2006 | Fundamento |
| 14 |
호러랜드의 비밀  |
Korea
Korean |
The Secret of HorrorLand | July 30, 2015 | Gorilla Box |
| 8 |
恐怖樂園  |
China
Mandarin |
Horror Park | October 1, 2015 | Shang Zhou Publishing |
| 5 |
En dag i Horrorland  |
Denmark
Danish |
One Day in HorrorLand | January 2009 | Borgen |
| 5 |
One Day at HorrorLand  |
United Kingdom
English |
One Day at HorrorLand | June 4, 2015 | Scholastic |
| N/A |
Le parc de l'horreur  |
Canada
French |
The Horror Park | June 2015 | Scholastic |
| 5 |
Един ден в Страхоландия  |
Bulgaria
Bulgarian |
One Day in the Country | May 29, 2018 | Хермес |
Classic Goosebumps
Adaptations
TV series
One Day at HorrorLand was adapted into a two-part episode of the Goosebumps TV series. It is the eight (part one) and ninth (part two) episode of season three.
Goosebumps Graphix
One Day at HorrorLand was adapted into a Goosebumps Graphix story in March 2007 by Jill Thompson, as the first story in Terror Trips.
Audiobook
| Audiobook | Release date | Length | Narrated by | Published by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
November 2015 | 2 hours, 35 minutes | Tara Sands | Scholastic Inc. |
Merchandise
| Gallery | |
|---|---|
 Board game by Milton Bradley  Microverse Playset  Lunch Box  T-Shirt from Fright Rags  T-Shirt by Creepy Co.  Enamel pin from Creepy Co.  Blanket  T-Shirt detail  T-shirt (front and back) | |
Artwork
Trivia
- According to the 2015 rerelease of R.L. Stine's autobiography, Stine drew maps of HorrorLand so he could picture where each attraction would be while writing the book.
- Stine also said it's one of his favorite Goosebumps books.[1]
- In 2015, Scholastic's official Tumblr page hosted a competition in which users could vote for their favorite book in the original series (with the addition of Cry of the Cat and Bride of the Living Dummy). Ultimately, One Day at HorrorLand won.[2]
References
See also
- Goosebumps HorrorLand
- Escape From HorrorLand
- The Streets of Panic Park
- HorrorLand
- Return to HorrorLand